iMFdirect – The IMF Blog

Guest post by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Columbia University, and
co-host of the Conference on Macro and Growth Policies in the Wake of the Crisis

The most remarkable aspect of the recent conference at the IMF was the broad consensus that the macroeconomic models that had been relied upon in the past and had informed major aspects of monetary and macro-policy had failed. They failed to predict the crisis; standard models even said bubbles couldn’t exist—markets were efficient. Even after the bubble broke, they said the effects would be contained. Even after it was clear that the effects were not “contained,” they provided limited guidance on how the economy should respond. Maintaining low and stable inflation did not ensure real economic stability. The crisis was “man-made.” While in standard models, shocks were exogenous, here, they were endogenous. (more…)

Filed under: Economic Crisis, Economic research, Financial Crisis, International Monetary Fund | Tagged: capital flows, central banks, credit risk, cross-border linkages, economic recovery, financial markets, financial sector regulation, financial stability, fiscal policy, industrial policy, inflation, Joseph Stiglitz, Macro and Growth Policies in the Wake of the Crisis, macroeconomic models, macroeconomic policy, macroeconomic stability | 15 Comments »